I've decided today, to write a note about this French Science Fiction author, Alain Damasio... Unfortunately, there's no existing translation in English of his books, and, believe me, that's a fucking pity!!!!

So, obviously, this time, the English note will be very different from the French one, I just hope, one day, you'll find his books in your language and, this time, I wish you'll remember that it's something you have to read!!! ;)

So, Alain Damasio has written two books, which call in French : La Zone du Dehors and La Horde du Contrevent, he already has obtained three French awards for these two books (and, honestly, he deserves it). He is a very original author, I think, he has a peculiar point of view of what the reading experiment should be. In different editions of his books, you can have 3D comic book, a DVD or a CD, which is the OST of the book... He is probably the first French author to have done that, I don't know if you guys are use to this kind of things, but, let me say, it's very rare in France and I really love it! Because, obviously, a book is a really strong source of inspiration for a musician (at least, for myself, it works quite well) and, based on feelings and imagination, you're able to link the different kind of arts together.
I'm sure you also have your couple "bands / books", we are probably a lot of Black Metal addict who have read Tolkien while listening to Summoning, for example. This is

Moreover, his books are really different from what I read before. Either in the way to write or in the stories he tells. I don't want you to be frustrated, so, I won't speak so much about his books, but, remember this name if one day you see it in a library, try to have a look, it's a terrific things to discover!

If you are a quite good French reader, I can recommend La Zone du Dehors, both SciFi book and society criticism, between Total Recall and 1984. It's a story about few people who want to change the world but, the great things is that both point of view, anarchist one and extreme security one are very well describe and that let you make your own idea about what a society should be. You can't change the end of the story, but you can think about it, think about the whole concept of a society while looking to this one, built on a Saturn's moon under government supervision and strong social pressure, everywhere you are and whatever you do.

Honestly, La Horde du Contrevent is probably the best but it has some difficult things to read for a non French reader, so, at first, try to read La Zone du Dehors, I'm quite sure if you like the very first pages, you won't be disappointed by the whole book!

Today, a note dedicated to Isaac Asimov, a very famous author among the fans of Science Fiction (the others could discover with pleasure!). Born in Russia, he came to the USA when he was 3 years old, after successful studies he has passed a biochemistry degree at the Columbia University. This point is quite important because, even if I don't consider that Asimov is a kind of Hard Science author like Jules Verne, he hasn't got any difficulties to give a real scientific credibility to his novels and stories.

Isaac Asimov has been an incredible prolific writer, he has written something like 500 books (yeah... 500....) and tons of letters, notes and so on... Among all of this stuff, we could find, Science Fiction novels, of course (with some of the most important masterpiece, for example the Foundation Series or the Robots Series), but also scientist essay, Fantasy, polars, and so on... He also has got an awards list as long as a letters to Santa written by a 6 year old child after an day in a toy's shop...

The big fans of spectacular Space Opera would be probably disappointed, it looks like Asimov didn't love this kind of Homeric space battle (I suppose, it may be a part of his pacific character). He prefers to use his huge imagination to create amazing concepts into great scenarios than in describing complex martial strategies. His style is simple, efficient, and either on a novel or a short book, when you've opened the book, be sure you'll read it until the end!

We can find everything in Asimov's works. The father of the three laws of Robotics is able to ask himself about various topics like the consciousness of robotics entities, the Eternity, Cyborgs in the society, statistical predictions of the future, racism, war, space colonization, parallel universe.... While you read Asimov's books, you're alternately be amused, fascinated, surprised, passionated, dubious.... There's a good balance between action and description, you can really feel the universe he describes you and you can easily imagine you, living in this world.

If I can give an advice about something to read for those who want to try.... uhhh.... I'd have a big problem to choose... And, moreover, as most of my Asimov's books are in French, it's quite difficult for me to find a short stories book which could be similar in both English and French library.

Anyway, I have no doubt that Robot Dreams should be perfect for those who want to discover Asimov. Not so expensive and full of a lot of short stories which are really really good. I'm not sure I've read all of them, actually, there's several I do not know the English title, but, there's several other I'm sure of their quality for having read and I assure you, you won't be bother by these various stories. Don't be afraid by the title, there isn't that much stories about robots in this book, it will help you to have a glimpse of what Asimov is doing and if you like it or no.

And, if you've liked some of the short stories, I strongly recommend Foundation... This series is just amazing, based on the psycho-history concept (you can imagine what it could be, hehe), it's a really really passionating adventure, you won't regret it!!!! (No more things to say... Just amazing, that's all!)

Of course, then, you should read The Robot Series, then, Nemesis, Tyrann, The End of Eternity, The Currents of Space....

The picture which has been used to illustrate this note has been designed by Rowena Morrill